This invention relates to tree guards of a type useful for protecting and training the growth of plants during their earlier growth stages.
Guards for this purpose have been known for a long time.
One guard has been made from a translucent material and has been formed into a cylindrical shape and the meeting edges welded together to form thereby an article that is permanently of such a shape.
The problem with such an arrangement is that in order to remove this from a tree after it is grown, it will normally be necessary to cut the guard material from bottom to top to effect such removal.
Besides being time consuming, this process also substantially destroys the guard for any further use.
In another prior art device, tabs are cut from the material to project outwardly with apertures therethrough through which a stake can be extended to hold the then tubular shape guard.
In order to hold the planar material in a tubular form there are provided tabs which are adapted to bend about substantially horizontal axes and then the tabs project through mutually aligned slots in a then facing wall of the material the tab incorporating the aperture through which the stake is then to extend.
There are several problems with this particular arrangement. A first problem is that in order to secure the tubular guard a stake must be extended through the respective apertures in the tabs. If temporary access to the plant is required, the stake holding the guard must be first removed or the guard must be slid fully along any stake in order to open the guard.
If the plant has already developed above the guard, this is no longer practical and in very many instances, removal of the stake is very time consuming and difficult especially if there are large numbers involved and it makes this type of guard difficult to use in practice. Even more to the point however, the shape of the guard providing this function requires a full wall to be overlapping another wall in order to have this type of locking and this makes such a guard somewhat expensive as compared to possibly other solutions.
The problem to which this invention is directed then is to provide a guard suitable for trees and other small bushes at the commencement of their growing periods which is both economic to manufacture and install, and can be manipulable and effectively reusable after use in respect of conventional applications.